Written for The Argo by Gabriella Boyle

On Friday, September 12, members of Stockton University’s Hispanic Heritage Committee, as well as the Mexican Student Association and Guatemalan Student Association, joined forces for the ceremonial flag raising honoring Hispanic Heritage Month. They were accompanied by students from Latinx Greek organizations, supportive students and faculty, and President Joe Bertolino.

The flag raised for Hispanic Heritage Month features a unique makeup with symbolism of the sun, Earth, and water. This new design is meant to highlight the fact that the month celebrates a variety Hispanic cultures, not just any one country or culture.

When asked what Hispanic Heritage Month meant to her, sophomore Ivi Cruz commented, “Being a Puerto Rican woman, that identity means the most to me. And with the current events and everything that’s going on in the world, it means so much that my identity gets to be celebrated in a positive way.”

Over twenty countries identify as Hispanic, with varying cultural personalities and celebrations coming from each group of people. Hispanic Heritage Month provides a way for all of these cultures to come together and celebrate who they are.

For senior Nahyelly Nuñes, this celebration gives students, who typically feel like their voice goes unheard, the opportunity to honor their cultural identity.

“[The flag raising] is important to me because I’m Dominican and I feel like our culture is not really represented as much in Stockton,” said Nuñes “We are often described as too loud or too much, so being in a flag that brings everybody’s different cultural personalities together is really important.”

This cultural event could not come together without leadership and coordination from administrators and student organization leaders, as well as participation from external organizations who work with Stockton. Senior Ahnjeles Maldonado helped organize the event, worked the music, and even tabled for her Greek organization, Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Incorporated. She is also the Stockton University Greek Council President, and a Multicultural Center PREP team member, among other leadership roles.

“Leadership to me is about action, and it is something I learned here on campus,” she told The Argo. “Coming in as a transfer student my sophomore year, it prompted me to expand my resume and dive into the social world and into a lot of passion projects.”

To Maldonado, Hispanic Heritage Month is about more than raising a flag and celebrating culture: “I think the flag raising is important because it’s the start of the school year and it does unite our Latino community on campus and it does bring out other communities as well. It is very much an open, welcoming event. We have food available, music going, tabling for our student organizations, and you can even see in our student organizations not every individual is of Hispanic descent or Latin origin. I think it brings us together as a campus, and just start the school year in a positive light and be together before classes get tough,” she said.

The Hispanic Heritage Month flag will be flying outside of the Arts & Science Center on the Galloway Campus through Hispanic Heritage Month, running from September 15 to October 15.